Fires, Blizzards, and New Attractions
by krazyhippo66
Summary: Who knew a fire was the best thing that would happen to Jane Rizzoli? Certainly not her. Sweet Rizzles. Enjoy. R&R (if you feel so inclined)


"I have to pee," Tommy whined.

Jane frowned, slouching further back into the couch as her dad reached for the remote.

"Aww, c'mon T. We're just getting to the good part!"

"Leave your brother alone," Angela chastised, getting up as soon as the movie was paused.

Sighing, Jane crossed her arms, wondering exactly why she had even come home for the Academy winter break. Frankie snickered next to her, and she elbowed his side.

"Shut up," she whispered.

Tommy got up and left for the bathroom, nearly stepping on Jo in the process, who was curled up next to the crackling fire in their fireplace.

"Jo," Jane called, "C'mon, girl. Don't stay so close."

The dog responded to her name, getting up and bounding over, trying to jump up onto the couch, only to be too small to reach. Jane chuckled and picked her up, scooting back to fit between her brother and father once again.

For the most part, she liked the once a month Rizzoli movie nights. They got to all sit around as a family, enjoy each other's company, but the best part, for her at least, was it kept her parents quiet. They didn't have time to ask her questions or nag her over the roaring gun-fire and explosions that came from their TV set.

Angela returned, giving a good stretch before sitting back down next to Frankie, ruffling his hair before getting herself situated once again under her blanket.

"Okay, go!" Tommy yelled as he ran back in.

He threw himself down on the floor in front of the couch, back onto the single pillow by Frankie's feet. Frank un-paused the movie, and Frankie grinned, shoving his foot near Tommy's nose. Tommy gave a groan of disgust, shoving Frankie away and into Jane. Frankie laughed as Jane shoved him the other way, the teenage girl giving her own groan of disapproval.

"Would you both _shut up_? I can't hear the damn words."

"Oh. They're saying words? I can't hear them over the sound of _Scarlett Johansson's boobs_."

Angela whacked Tommy's head, but Jane chuckled, silently agreeing. She pulled her feet off the floor, maneuvering until she was cross-legged on the couch. Her father put his arm around her, and she smiled to herself. She liked being in a not-so-messed-up family. Sure, her parents yelled a lot. Sure, her and her brothers messed with each other. But at the end of the day, she knew they all loved her. No matter what.

She remembered so clearly the day she came out. Or, well…was shoved out, more like. Her mother's friend had to go on a business trip and had donated her ballet tickets to the family. Huge mistake, but that wasn't the point. When they were getting ready, Jane, of course, was the first one ready. She sat on the couch by the front door, fiddling with her hair with one hand, her phone with the other. She had been a junior in high school at the time, her phone simply another appendage of her very being.

Her mother had walked in, from her bedroom, trying to put on earrings as she walked. To this day, Jane didn't know what made her pause, but she did. She had just stopped walking and turned to look directly at her daughter and asked, "Are you gay?"

Jane had frowned as she looked up, staring at her mother for a long time, gauging whether or not she should lie.

She had settled for: "I'm pretty sure, yeah."

And she had waited for the onslaught, one that would keep them all from going to the ballet because of an explosive fight. None came.

Angela had looked at her for a few more moments, then shrugged.

"Okay. Me and your father had been wondering for a while."

And then she just kept walking, continuing to put her earrings on as she went for the bathroom.

That had been it. Nothing crazy. No anger. No hysterics.

She came back from her thoughts when she realized the movie was paused again.

"Frank, what're you doing?" Angela asked.

He shushed her, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Do you hear that?" he asked in a hushed tone.

All of them stopped moving and breathing, listening.

Jane heard it. It was a rushing, a roaring, coming from their fireplace. It wasn't like the normal little rush from an air pocket, but a continuous, _loud_, rush of air, like the combustion in a jet engine.

Her father got up and went into the garage. They all sat, listening as they heard the garage door open. For a few moments, they only heard the strange roaring sound, but then Frank was running back in.

"Yup. Chimney fire. Boys. Shoes, coats, go out front. Angela, call emergency services. Jane?"

She looked at him expectantly.

"Shoes, coat, get Jo on a leash, and go wait outside with your brothers."

Jane nodded, and with Jo still in her arms, she stood, rushing off after her brothers to find her boots and winter coat. Jo tried to scamper away when she placed her on the ground, and Jane huffed, standing by the door, holding the leash.

"C'mon, Jo."

The dog stopped her retreat, but only stared at Jane.

"Yeah, I know. Something strange is going on. Everyone's doing a lot of running and not a lotta talking. That's like the opposite of the Rizzoli family."

She paused, considering how silly it was to talk to the dog. Either way, she crouched down.

"But you gotta come here," she said sternly.

Without hesitation, Jo bounded back over, waiting obediently for Jane to attach it to her collar. Jane then made her way outside, into the typical late winter weather of Boston. Ten degrees and snowing.

"What'd you mean 'what's it look like'?!" she heard her mother exclaim. "It's a _chimney fire_. There is _fire_ coming out of our _chimney_."

"Maaaa!" Frankie chided. He always got embarrassed when Angela yelled. Always the shy(ish) middle child.

"I don't _care_," she continued. "Have you sent anyone?...Well then why are we still on the phone?! It's not like we're _dying_ or anything."

Frank snatched the phone from her as he appeared from around back.

"Yes, ma'am, we're fine. Is it alright to hang up before my wife verbally assaults you? Great. Thank you."

He hung up, throwing the phone back to Angela before looking at Jane.

"Walk her around the neighborhood, will you?" he asked. "You know how she gets around other people."

Jane nodded. The dog, to say the least, didn't react well at all to other people. Barked like crazy. Vicious growling. Lots of jumping.

"Just walk around. Check back every once and a while. We'll all be here. Once you see the firetrucks gone, it's probably okay to come back."

"Aww, Pop!" Tommy exclaimed, "Why can't _I_ walk Jo around?"

"Because I trust _Jane_ to walk around the neighborhood at night. I trust you about as far as I can throw you."

"You can throw me pretty far."

"Not as far as I'd like," he chuckled.

Tommy scowled, but did not protest.

Jane waved to them before jogging across the street. She stopped to turn and look back. Sure enough, flames were…coming out of the chimney. It looked so, exposed, sitting there at the corner of the four-way intersection. Still, her family was safe, so she didn't have a problem getting out of dodge for a little.

Especially in the streets of the suburbs.

She walked slowly so Jo could keep up, her little legs working in overdrive to try and climb the hill and hold fast in the thin layer of snow forming. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she looked around at the houses. They were a lot bigger than her family's.

She knew they weren't very well off, but her parents had wanted them to go to a good school. She knew they struggled with money all the time. And for that, she was grateful, especially now. She didn't feel the least bit threatened, even with the pitch black sky and only a few streetlights.

After walking around in circles for about a half an hour, she went back, stopping when she came to the top of the hill, her house down at the bottom and across the street. Huge lights had been put in place to illuminate the house, at least three firetrucks blocking two of the streets at the intersection. She approached slowly, but stayed back, hidden enough by the flimsy bushes so that Jo would not have a panic-attack.

The owner of the house wandered outside, unaware of her presence. The man stared at the scene for a moment, then glanced behind him to see Jane and Jo. She was sure she looked rather pathetic, standing outside in a pair of rain boots, her pajama bottoms and a huge winter coat, along with a dog whose fur had collected quite a layer of snow and was starting to look like a white puffball.

"Mind if we…?" Jane half managed.

He looked at her for a moment, then shook his head to signal it was okay, then turned and walked back inside.

Tired out, Jane sat down on the curb on her neighbor's property, Jo curling up next to her, whimpering quietly.

"I know, girl," Jane murmured, petting her gently. "We can go back soon."

The worst part was not the cold, although it was becoming increasingly cold and increasingly numbing. She didn't want to look at her fingers. The worst part, most definitely, was all the people. Everyone who drove by slowed down, craning to see what was going on in her house, then staring at her as they passed.

She looked and felt, at least temporarily, homeless.

Another car slowed as it passed her house, and she scowled, but when it got to her, it stopped. The window rolled down, and a girl about her age peered out.

"You okay?" she asked, her hazel eyes pooling with concern.

Jane, momentarily taken aback, didn't quite know what to say. She just opened her mouth like an idiot, then snapped it shut. She wasn't sure what was more distracting. Finding someone who was so kind-hearted or finding someone who was so incredibly hot.

Even though she couldn't feel her fingers, she could feel herself heating up inside her coat. No, deeper than that. If her cheeks were not already red from the wind, they most certainly would've been then.

"Did you want to get in?" the girl persisted. "I've got heat. And heated seats…I promise I'm not some creep who'll kidnap you."

The joke brought Jane to her senses and she laughed, only to catch confusion in the girl's eyes. She hadn't been joking.

"Oh. No. I can't. Jo…she's not so fond of cars. Y'know, makes her think of the v-e-t. Really. I'm fine. They'll probably only be at the house for another fifteen minutes or so."

The girl looked at Jane, torn.

"Seriously," Jane laughed. "Go. I'm sure you've got a million better places to be than this."

Instead of driving off, though, the girl put her car in park, threw on her emergency blinkers, and got out. She walked around her car and to Jane, but before she sat down, she pulled open the passenger door, the one right next to the freezing girl, and leaned into her car.

Jane's mouth went dry at the sight of that…very fine ass as the girl leaned for the control panels. The way it looked…in those yoga pants….Jane thought for a moment that she'd actually start sweating. Until she realized she was shivering.

What the girl was doing, she realized, was turning up the heat to full blast. She then got back outside, a coffee in her hand.

"Here. I…I only drank a little. If you don't want it, I'd understand. But I thought I'd offer—"

"Thanks," Jane cut her off, taking the coffee without standing up.

Then, the girl did something else astonishing. She sat herself down, right next to Jane, scooting herself really close until their bodies were pressed together.

"I'm Maura," she said quietly.

"Jane."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry," she said. "That sounded weird."

Jane shook her head, taking a sip of the coffee.

"No…No…I remember you. You went to my school, didn't you?"

"Only last year," Maura nodded.

"We didn't have any classes together, did we?" Jane asked, suddenly very embarrassed that she didn't remember Maura _that well_. Only her name.

"No," the other girl laughed. "My friends…well, not my friends. The girls that spent time with me, they always wanted to go to basketball games with their boyfriends. And since our basketball team was the undefeated team for three years, that's…usually where I spent my nights."

Jane blushed. She had only played basketball because of her brothers. And she had _wanted_ to play for the boys' team, but that obviously wasn't going to happen, so she had settled for the girls' team. It turned out not being a total waste of her life, but it definitely took a chunk out of her social life.

"And you remember me from that?" Jane laughed. "I wasn't that great."

"Sure you were," Maura protested. "You had the best form. You had the highest percentage of shots made."

"Were you like, a fan, or something?" Jane asked, impressed that someone even knew that besides her. Especially years later.

"Not really," Maura shrugged. "I was just…enthralled with you. All your teammates, they would foul the other team on purpose. On your coach's command."

"You _saw _that?"

This time, Maura laughed.

"It wasn't hard to miss if you were looking. But since it was girls' high school basketball, not very many people were looking."

She paused, looking down at her feet.

"My _point_, was that you…you never fouled. Anyone. Even when you got beat up or fouled, you never did anything back."

"Wait a second," Jane said. "That was _you_!"

"What?" Maura asked, turning to look at Jane more fully.

"You fixed my nose! It was a night game, and the nurse had gone home. Everyone was about to start panicking, and then there you were!"

She paused, smiling softly.

"I never got to thank you for that. I turned back around and you were gone."

"It was nothing," Maura said shyly, and Jane swore she saw her blush.

"Nothing? Thanks to you, I won't be permanently disfigured for the rest of my life. That's a little more than nothing." She laughed. "_And_ now I have you to thank for not freezing to death."

Maura frowned.

"The chances of you freezing to death would have been slim to none."

"That didn't keep you from stopping for me," Jane countered, taking a final sip of the coffee and placing it next to Jo.

The movement woke the dog, and immediately she looked over at Maura. She got up, and Jane cringed, expecting her to bark, but the little dog simply trudged over to the blonde girl and sniffed her. Then she climbed into Maura's lap, curled up, and let out a contented sigh.

"Huh," Jane said in disbelief. "She hates other people."

Maura smiled down at the dog so brightly, it was as if she'd never been given affection before. Then she looked over at Jane, her eyes smiling and happy, with a grin to match.

"I guess she sees I'm not really 'other people'."

Jane grinned back.

"I'd have to second that," she said quietly.

And without any thought, she reached over and took Maura's hand, lacing their fingers together before stuffing both their hands into her pocket. Maura made no signs of protest. She just scooted a little closer, resting her head on Jane's shoulder.

"I'm sorry your house caught on fire," she murmured.

"I'm not," Jane assured her.

She didn't know how long they sat there, but it didn't matter. She let herself fall into the warmth surrounding her. The warmth from Maura's car, body, and hand. The warmth in her stomach from the coffee. And the warmth in her heart as she considered exactly how to ask this wonderful girl out on a date.

* * *

**A/N: I know. Another one shot. But believe me, this is a good thing. It's me keeping the creative side of my brain working as I fight to complete my next mulit-chapter fic. Which, I will say, is about half done. And another one is being worked on. It's just one jumbled mess in my head, and you'll just have to bear with me while I sort it out. Hope this makes up for some of my slowness...Sweet little college-aged Rizzles. **


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